Auto students show chops at Lehigh Valley competition

Evan Tumelty of Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center in Limerick… (DONNA FISHER, THE MORNING…)

February 16, 2013|By Kevin Duffy, Special to The Morning Call

With horns blaring and lights blinking Saturday in the Auto Technology Building at Northampton Community College, teammates Danny Simon and Hoa Vuong scrambled to trouble-shoot their 2013 Dodge Dart in 90 minutes.

As judges watched, Simon, Vuong and 12 other students from regional vocational-technical schools raced to get the bugs out of the seven donated Darts, checking tire pressures and fluid levels and gauging power degrees with electrical sensors.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association's 12th annual auto competition helps local dealerships find qualified technicians and mechanics from among the crop of young hopefuls emerging from vo-tech programs like the ones on display Saturday.

"If we don't do something locally, these dealers are going to have a problem getting certified auto technicians," said Dick Culver, education director for the association.

Getting new technicians from vo-tech programs couldn't be more critical to the 45-50 dealerships that make up the association, Culver said. Of the roughly 500 auto techs who comprise its membership, he estimates about 100-150 of them will reach retirement age in the next three to five years.

"It's definitely something that's going to be a problem down the road, we're not going to have qualified ones to fill their place," said Culver, adding that studies indicate a dearth of mechanics nationally as well.

That's why the association is supportive of the auto program at NCC, where students can receive their certification and a two-year college degree.

"I told some of the kids today, Northampton has internship programs and they'll walk right into these dealerships when they graduate," Culver said.

The students weren't focused on their futures Saturday but on the present, where pesky car problems and a ticking clock were causing lots of angst and some stress.

After tackling written questions and computer work, the students were turned loose on their shiny Darts and instructed to find the kinks.

Simon, 18, who lives in Allentown and attends Lehigh Career & Technical Institute full time, and Vuong, also 18 and a student at Allen High and LCTI, hit a snag with an electronic scanner that was supposed to help them pinpoint problems but was having trouble working.

"That was the biggest curveball for us," Simon said afterward.

What bothered Vuong more was a spare tire he struggled to remove from its snug resting place in the truck.

Adding to the problem, as they later found out, was a missing jack handle.

In addition to LCTI, Bethlehem Area Vo-Tech, Monroe Career and Technical Institute, Carbon Career and Technical Institute, Upper Bucks Technical Institute, Hunterdon County Technical Institute in New Jersey, and Western Center in Limerick were represented.

Mike Bernadyn, who teaches Simon and Vuong at LCTI, said both students have what it takes to make a successful career in automotive technology. But anything, he said, can go wrong during a competition.

"No matter how much they prepare, until you put them under the lights, and that pressure, you just don't know," he said.

The pair ended up taking second place.

The competition went a little smoother for Ethan Gaither and Aron Nemes from Bethlehem Area Vo-Tech, who took top honors and will go on to the national competition, sponsored by the Greater New York Auto Dealers Association, April 1-3 in New York City.